Prep begins on O.C.'s largest Thanksgiving feast

Grace Aguilar, left, and her daughter Ellyse Ramirez, 8, volunteered to serve dinner at the Honda Center on Thanksgiving Day in 2011. Anaheim restaurant owner Frank Garcia's We Give Thanks giant feast draws up to 15,000 people to the Honda Center each year.FILE: ANA VENEGAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – Preparation for Orange County's largest annual Thanksgiving feast began Tuesday – two days before the free meal for 15,000-plus guests gets under way in the parking lot of the Honda Center.

Dozens of volunteers began basting turkeys and chopping vegetables at the Anaheim Convention Center and the Hilton and Marriott hotels – an effort that will continue Wednesday to get everything ready in time for the 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thanksgiving Day dinner.

Among those helping prepare all the fixings is restaurateur Frank Garcia, who founded the We Give Thanks feast at his Casa Garcia restaurant in Anaheim 26 years ago.

The meal, now run by a nonprofit group, still operates under the same premise – to provide meals for the penniless homeless and also for the well-heeled lonely who have nowhere else to go on a holiday.

Esteban Gonzalez, 58, has attended for the past several years to enjoy a dinner.

"Yeah, I could afford a turkey, I guess, but I'm not going to buy one to prepare for just myself," said Gonzalez, a truck driver who retired early because of an injury. "It makes me feel good to be around a bunch of people rather than home alone. It's like a family dinner for a few thousand."

The first year Garcia held the feast, in the late 1980s, about 3,000 people showed up at his restaurant. More and more people showed up until the event outgrew his Chapman Avenue location and moved to the Honda Center.

Nearly 1,000 turkeys are now carved up. More than 1,500 volunteers help prepare and serve the meal – with shifts filling up weeks in advance.

Financial support has always been strong, with customers dropping off cash donations throughout the year. This year, organizers found themselves nearly 500 turkeys short just two weeks before the feast. Several community groups stepped up and donated turkeys – most notably Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, which pitched in 600 turkeys.

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Grace Aguilar, left, and her daughter Ellyse Ramirez, 8, volunteered to serve dinner at the Honda Center on Thanksgiving Day in 2011. Anaheim restaurant owner Frank Garcia's We Give Thanks giant feast draws up to 15,000 people to the Honda Center each year. FILE: ANA VENEGAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Frank Garcia is the founder of the huge Thanksgiving giveaway and owner of Casa Garcia restaurant in Anaheim. FILE: SAM GANGWER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Roger Gass, right, of Newport Beach, volunteered to serve turkey and trimmings on Thanksgiving Day at the Honda Center last year during Frank Garcia's We Give Thanks giant feast, which draws up to 15,000 people. FILE: ANA VENEGAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Thousands line up for a Thanksgiving meal a the Honda Center last Thanksgiving. Anaheim restaurant owner Frank Garcia's We Give Thanks feast draws up to 15,000 people to the Honda Center each year. FILE: ANA VENEGAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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